@futurebird As with the current situation, crime was overhyped in the name of policing. Very frustrating.
To your main point: I do remember how jarring it was to have tac-garbed people with automatic rifles standing guard (over what?!) in, e.g. Penn Station after 9/11.
At the time, my dad said, "They're trying to get us used to it." (The term "Overton Window" hadn't entered public discourse yet.)
He was right, of course.
